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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-12 PACKET 04.A.i. REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING ITEM # a DATE 08/12/15 r. /�, � � PREPARED BY: Public Safety Craig Woolery ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT STAFF AUTHOR * * * * * * * * * � * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * � * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * � * * COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST: Pass a motion to accept and place on file the April 28, 2015 minutes of the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission meeting minutes. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Pass a motion to accept and place on file the April 28, 2015 meeting minutes. ADVISORY COMMISSION ACTION: DATE REVIEWED APPROVED DENIED � PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING 05/26/15 x x SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: � MINUTES: April 28, 2015 meeting minutes of the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS: � � � � �- y�-�� City Ad� nistrator Date * � * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * � * * * * * * * * * * * * * * COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: ❑ APPROVED ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER Cottage / Grove PUBLIC SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE �,he`e pride anaPrOSPerfty Meet COMMISSION MINUTES OF MEETING April 28, 2015 Pursuant to due notice, a meeting of the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission was held at the City Hall. 1. REGULAR MEETING 01.A. Call to Order: The April 28, 2015, meeting of the Cottage Grove Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission was called to order at 7:00 pm. Members Present: Jodi Lewis, AJ Janssen, Bill Serpico,.Lise' Rediske, Kent Griffith Members Absent: Kellie Eigenheer (excused), Pat Forsythe Staff Present: Council Liaison Steve Dennis, Captain Pete Koerner, Fire Chief Rick Redenius 01 B. Approval of Minutes Commission Chair Jodi Lewis presented the March 24, 2015 minutes of the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission minutes for review and approval. On a motion by Commission member Lise' Rediske, seconded by Commission member Kent Griffith the March 24, 2015 minutes were accepted and approved by the Commission. Motion carries. 01 C. Approval of Aqenda Commission Chair Jodi Lewis presented the April 28, 2015 agenda of the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission for review. On a motion by Commission member Kent Griffith, seconded by Commission member Bill Serpico, the April 28, 2015 agenda was accepted and approved by the Commission. Motion carries. 2. OPEN FORUM Commission Chair Jodi Lewis invited citizens present to address the Commission regarding any matters that were not on the approved agenda. There being no items, Commission Chair Jodi Lewis closed the Open Forum segment of the meeting. 3. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT There being no items, Commission Chair Jodi Lewis closed this segment of the meeting. Page 2 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 4. OLD BUSINESS 04.A Administration —Take recommendations and nominate a 2015 Public Safety Commission Vice Chair Commission member Kent Griffith is interested in the position. Motion by Commission member AJ Janssen, seconded by Commission member Lise' Rediske to nominate and recommend Kent Griffith as the 2015 Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission Vice Chair. Motioned carried. 5. New Business 05.A Proposed Amendments to the Animal Ordinance — Captain Koerner Captain Koerner gave a brief history stating the following: in 2007, the public safety department and the Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission did extensive review and revisions the animal control ordinance. He went on to say this was a public process with citizens having the opportunity to be involved. During this process, the entire animal ordinance was reviewed and updated with the following areas being addressed: • Potentially Dangerous Dogs • Added definitions • Definitions of attacks and imminent dangers • Seizures • Impoundment periods and dispositions • Concealments of animals • Multiple offenses —seizure and destruction He added that under the amended language, it has been shown to be very effective and addresses the safety concerns of the city. He also stated that the process of licensing has changed. The office of the city clerk is no longer responsible for the licensing of animals. The responsibility was transitioned to the police department. Due to the change in process, we have reviewed the animal control ordinance and revised areas that refer to licensing. Copy of the entire animal control ordinance with suggested revisions was provided to the Commission. Captain Koerner asked for Commission comments on recommended revisions advising that a draft of the revisions will be sent to the City Attorney for review and comment. Commission member Rediske asked a few questions. She asked if the determination is based on a dog by dog basis or is there a breed that fits into a dangerous dog or potentially dangerous dog definition. Captain Koerner informed that it goes off the Page 3 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 behavior and not the breed. She also asked about the application for a license and where would that be found on the web site. Captain Koerner advised that the city of Cottage Grove's web site does have the information if you type in the search section `animal license' it will bring you to the City Clerk page for the information. He said that that will have to be moved to the police department page now that the police department does the licensing. She also inquired about the ordinance stating something about different tag. Is it a different color? What differentiates it from a regular tag? Captain Koerner advised that there is a tag and also a placard that needs to be displayed in the front of the house and we can also say they need more than one to display on all sides of the house/property. Also she would like to have the word "destroyed" changed to "euthanized" if possible. She went on to say that words, ie. Owner, registered owner, should be consistent throughout. Also, where it references maintaining multi-animals needing approval of contiguous property owners before the purchase of a multi-animal license. Captain Koerner will get clarification back to her. Also, the breakdown of the steps for notice of determination. Commission Chair Lewis wanted to ask some questions. Under the dangerous dogs section, is there anything in the ordinance where neighbors, schools should be notified of a dangerous dog that live in the area? Captain Koerner stated there is no requirement to notify people, the only notice is the yellow dangerous dog placard at the house where the animal lives, and is to be visible to the public. Also, wondering about wild animals as being a pretty broad term and is there more of a definition. Captain Koerner stated that towards the beginning of the ordinance there are definitions listed. License fees and late fees — how are they adjusted and based. A survey of surrounding communities are taken. 05.B Social Host presentation — Captain Koerner Captain Koerner made a presentation to the Commission regarding underage drinking laws. He went on to say that he wanted to bring this to the Commission because it's the time of year for Grad Parties, outdoor activities, summer barbeques, Memorial Day weekend and with these events, unfortunately there will be underage drinking. The city of Cottage Grove adopted in 2010 the Social Host Ordinance. We were the first agency in Washington County to adopt it and now multiple Washington County cities have the ordinance. As of August 30, 2012, 88 cities and 21 counties have adopted a social host ordinance. Page 4 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 We have the ordinance because we want people to be responsible. We have flyers in the Public Safety lobby and we work with students at Park— Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). The Commission thanked him for the information. 05.0 Severe Weather Awareness and Storm Clean up Policy presentation — Fire Chief Redenius Fire Chief Redenius will talk about Severe Weather Awareness week first. He started the presentation stating that for more than 25 years, the state of Minnesota has conducted a Severe Weather Awareness Week in partnership with the National Weather Service and local governments. A statewide tornado drill is part of that event. He went on to say that this year the week of April 13 — 17, is designated as Severe Weather Awareness week. Thursday, April 16 there will be two tornado drills: 1:45 pm and 6:55 pm. Sirens are activated by the Washington County Dispatch who are notified by the National Weather Service (NWS) to activate the sirens or the NWS reports sustained winds of 75 MPH or higher; or when a city public official (police or fire) requests an activation. Warning sirens are meant to be heard outdoors for those who may be outside. If indoors, listen to a radio, a NOAA weather radio or television. There is not an all clear sounded. He added we are in the process of upgrading our warning sirens to be ac/dc, meaning they have battery backups. Most of our sirens were power run and if the power went out in part of the city, the sirens did not sound. He also stated that residents need to seek safe shelter and practice periodic tornado drills so everyone knows what to do and where to go in case of a tornado. Watch vs Warning —Watch — conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms or tornado; Warning — a severe thunderstorm or tornado has been spotted by radar or trained spotters. NOAA weather radios are the best way to get information and can be purchased at most retailers and are inexpensive and will alert day or night and most recently, smart phones will sound and provide information during an actual tornado warning and Page 5 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 possibly severe weather. There is more information on the city's website for additional severe weather information. Fire Chief Redenius began the next presentation regarding Storm Damage Cleanup Policy-Debris Management. Residents are responsible for cleanup of their own property. The city will only remove debris in streets and parks. Commission member Griffith asked if there are different policies in different counties. Fire Chief Redenius stated that there are and that it has been discussed to get all of the metro area standardized so there is no discrepancy. Commission member Serpico asked him if someone is physically at the sirens to confirm if they are operating and spinning. Fire Chief Redenius said that he has people at the sirens for this. He added he would like to go to a web base operating system to check if the sirens are working where he can set off a check switch, the public won't hear it, but he can make sure they are working properly and then it will reset itself. The sirens sound for 3 minutes and then stop. This is a warning and you should seek shelter until the severe weather has passed. To be sure the severe weather has passed, listen to either the NOAA radio, or television. 05.D Fire Station planning presentation — Fire Chief Redenius Fire Chief Redenius made a presentation to the Commission regarding the Fire Station Project and the planning process of building a new fire station at the Fire Station #2 location. He went to say that the presentation will cover geography, the history of Fire Station #2, how we operate now and responses, the current building and looking to the future. He covered the locations of the four fire stations. The original/first station was on the east side of the highway due to homes/neighborhoods built by Orrin Thompson. The second (Fire Station #2) was then built due to the population growing/increasing and getting harder to cross the rail road tracks as well as Highway 61. The need for more room for training was also needed as Fire Station #1 did not have the room for the increasing number of fire fighters being added as the city grew. He went to say that the city is transitioning from a police/paramedic based response to a fire/EMS based response. This will allow police to focus on police work and will only be used as backup if needed. Page 6 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 Looking to the future, do we consolidate stations, do we need four stations, should we close or repurpose stations #1 and #3. We are looking at how we serve the community and citizens in the future. Planning/discussions began in 2005 for repair/replace, space needs, equipment consolidation for facilities. There is a meeting next week with a space needs firm. He added that we want to get the word out to citizens on why there is a need for this through Fire Department open houses, city events. The Commission thanked Fire Chief Redenius for his presentations. 6. RESPONSE TO PREVIOUSLY RAISED COMMENTS AND REQUESTS None at this time. 7. COMMISSION COMMENTS AND REQUESTS None at this time. � 8. STAFF REPORTS 08.A Police — Captain Koerner informed the Commission of the following: The budget process will soon begin with a "Kick Off" meeting with the next few months keeping us extremely busy. The 3 newest police officers are nearing the end of their FTO training and should be finished with this training by the end of June. 08.B Fire — Fire Chief Redenius informed the Commission of the following: Calls are down for last month, which is a typical drop for February, down to about 170 calls total for EMS and the fire side. We are hiring a full time fire fighter/medic and will start his training on May 13t" and will go through a more intense training process due to him not being hired from inside the department. We are also in the process of interviewing for the paid on call fire fighter/medics. We are looking for day time response personnel for the fire department to supplement our day time staff. We are working on training for pump operator classes and wild fire classes. Page 7 PSHWC Minutes April 28, 2015 Calls have been steadily regular, generally staying along the lines as in past months. 08.0 Council Recap Council member Dennis informed the Commission of the following Council recaps: Before Council member Dennis gets into the Council recaps, he would like to inform the Commission that there has been some interest from the community for the addition of youth seats, up to two positions (under the age of 18 years) and will be posting more information on the city's web page to advertise this. He went on to say that at the last City Council meeting, Council discussed two important matters —the first of which they had an opportunity to interview 3 different companies that will be acting as a search firm for helping to identify our next City Administrator. The company the Council decided on is Springsted. They have a vast amount of experience and the Council will be working with them and staff to help find a great number of candidates for the position. This will take approximately 3-4 months. The second is appointing an interim City Administrator. The Council advised Director of Public Safety Craig Woolery was named and will be starting June 1St and serve until the City Administrator position is filled. The Council attended the Volunteer Recognition Dinner to recognize those who serve as volunteers in the Cottage Grove community. Cottage Grove Lions Club was awarded and recognized for Outstanding Community Contributions and the second award was for Volunteer of the Year which was presented to Rick Constable. Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce held the 2015 Business Showcase at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena. This is a great opportunity to come and visit the businesses here in Cottage Grove and would like to encourage citizens to support our local businesses. On May 2"d at Public Works, the city will be hosting Cottage Grove Spring Cleanup Day and is open from 7 am to 3 pm. 9. ADJOURN Motion to adjourn the meeting by Commission member AJ Janssen, seconded by Commission Vice Chair Kent Griffith. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Cyndee Engfer Administrative Secretary